


Pokémon Live

by Akuto



Series: Pokémon Live [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Reality, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-14
Updated: 2013-11-11
Packaged: 2017-12-14 23:01:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/842355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akuto/pseuds/Akuto
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pokémon has always been a form of entertainment to us. We've played their games, traded their cards, and even watched their crappy anime. But without warning real Pokémon begin to show up in our world, first in the depths of the unexplored jungles and moving their way into our suburbs.</p>
<p>Now, fifty years later, the world has changed from their presence. Grey, an apathetic young man, winds up in the very first Pokémon League of America with a mysterious Pokémon, who has connections to a growing crime syndicate...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Scene 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which legends are started and ancient mysteries are vaguely alluded to...

_The camera was shaking a lot, mostly because it was in the hands of a young boy. Also the raging Amazon River wasn’t helping, throwing the deck he stood on into turmoil. The picture was on good quality digital film, catching images of bright birds and lush foliage for which the rain forest was well known. Dazzling sunlight pierced through the thick ensemble of branches wherever it could, illuminating the scene. The boy’s voice could clearly be heard over the noise of the engine and occasional squawk of a chattering monkey._

_“Hey Dad- I mean, Professor!” The boy laughed at the inside joke. “We’re rolling.”_

_A man appeared in the frame as the boy rapidly tweaked the focus. He was in traditional safari garb: light green wide-brim hat with a matching long-sleeved cotton shirt, and khakis tucked into sensible hiking boots. He was a bespectacled young man, pacing the prow of the motor boat as he made sure all his equipment was in order. The professor had a huge grin which was framed by a bushy brown mustache._

_“Yes, thank you,” he said, fumbling with several large maps of South America. He addressed the camera the best he could. “This is Professor Lloyd Holly, on the sixth day of my exploration. We are currently tracking the trail left by the mystery animal by following the Amazon River to where we believe the tracks may have originated. Comparing this to the locals’ witness accounts, it feels as though we may finally get to the bottom of-”_

_He was cut short as a tremendous roar broke through the normal array of jungle sounds. It was an alien sound, as if it came from a monstrous dragon maw. Sensing danger, all the other creatures became silent, including Professor Holly and his son._

_The footage shook as the boy attempted to regain his nerves. “W-What was that?”_

_“I-I don’t know… Let’s head for the shore and see what we can find.”_

_The video skips ahead to the professor deep in the rain forest, crouching next to an indent about the size of a manhole cover. He scribbled notes onto a pad, all the while inspecting the track with a large magnifying glass._

_“It appears to be fresh,” started Professor Holly, “but definitely different than the tracks we found at the village. From what I can gauge this creature is a quadruped…but the footprints are just too big to be anything natural. Just look at the distance between the feet. Whatever it is, it must be absolutely massive!”_

_Suddenly a thunderous sound shook the ground, rustling the trees overhead. The situation becoming very real, the professor shouted, “Get to the boat!” But before either of them could move, a couple of monstrous shapes broke through into the clearing. The camera desperately focused on the two warring creatures: a blue-and-red draconian monster being attacked by what looked at first glance to be the forest itself, but more brontosauri in shape. An unreal turf war had stumbled into the full view of the camera._

_Professor Holly, who had been tossed to the side, shook himself out of his shock and dashed out in front of the camera. All that could be seen was his shirt as the father hoisted his son into his arms and ran. The man could be heard breathing heavily as the battle raged on behind them. The boy was still rendered speechless, but was eventually let down to run on his own._

_They finally came to a stop, deeper in the forest than they had originally intended to go. Neither could say anything at first, not wanting to confirm what they had just seen to be real. Eventually the professor remarked, “Did…did you get all that?”_

_“I think so…”_

_“Good.” Professor Holly forced a smile, but even his son could see the wild fear in his eyes. The man grabbed the small camcorder and directed it up at himself, the sky acting as a vivid backdrop behind him. “When we show them what we’ve seen today…the world will never be the same again.”_

_He moves his hand to turn the camera off and as the digital film begins to distort to first grey then black, a small fast movement is seen behind the professor’s head…_


	2. Scene 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a trio of old friends forge a gentleman's agreement...

The lights came back on just as the film ended, stirring up a chorus of groans and complaints from the students. It took several minutes for the teacher to quell the teenagers, but even then there were still a half-dozen side conversations taking place. It was the best she could hope for. “So, can any of you guess why I chose to show this film today?”

No one said anything, thinking someone else would take up the question. Eventually a girl tentatively raised her hand.

“Yes, Amber?”

“Does it have something to do with next week?” the girl guessed, sending whispers throughout the classroom. Next week was all anyone could talk about lately, making things very disruptive for the teachers.

“Actually, that’s part of it,” said the teacher, “but today also happens to be the fiftieth anniversary of the discoveries that came from this film, the ‘Day the World Changed Forever’. I suppose that’s why the PLA decided to begin next week. This day fifty years ago, Professor Holly’s discovery shook the foundations of everything we once believed to be true. An entire new class of animal species was beginning to take hold in all the remote environments of the world and within the year they had settled into urban life.”

She took out a small red-and-white ball and held it out so her students could clearly see, then tossed it up into the air. The ball landed on a small release button on its surface and a quick burst of white light filled the room. The students weren’t overly impressed by the display, but retained a polite interest as the light formed into a small dog-like creature that resembled a Yorkshire terrier.

“He was the founder of PLA, and is now known today as the Godfather of Pokémon,” their teacher continued as the little brown dog ran around her feet. “Can anyone tell me what other contributions Professor Holly has made? Let’s see…Grey, please explain.”

A boy near the back of the class looked up, not expecting to be called on. Like his namesake, his eyes were slate grey, as well as his dyed rat-tail. He answered somewhat slowly, “Um, he became one of the first Pokémon researchers? And he helped design the first Pokéballs.”

“Yes, that’s right,” she picked up. “Professor Holly was asked to research Pokémon because of his experience in zoology and was an avid supporter for them when people were still scared. He also helped in many of the products we use today, not just the Pokéball. It’s mostly thanks to him that Pokémon were so quickly adopted by society.” The bell rang, signaling lunch to start. “Oh, it must be later than I thought! Have a good lunch, everyone.”

Grey let out a sigh. Everyone had seen the same video since early elementary school. It was more iconic than the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, the JFK assassination, and moon landing footage combined, but he had hoped he would be seeing less of it now that he was in high school. But with ‘next week’ coming up everyone was in a Pokémon craze, and though it normally wasn’t a big deal Grey was starting to find all the excitement tiring.

Of course, his friends were no help. The two gathered with him for lunch at the top of the stairwell like they had done every day for the past year. One of them was the girl who had also spoken up in class, Amber Vanna. She was the ideal ‘girl next door’, with feather-like brown hair and honey colored eyes. Amber got along with just about everyone and was a member of the school track team, which made her just sporty enough to be a fun, competitive person.

Cole Dunstan was Grey’s other friend, as well as the hothead of the group. He was the only person who could get Grey to do something he didn’t want to do and constantly teased him about something or other. Cole was also the most mature physically, as he was broad shouldered and tall (a fact he wouldn’t let Grey live down). The three of them had been childhood friends since meeting in early elementary school.

And just like everyone else, these two were abuzz with this exciting worldwide event. They chatted animatedly amongst themselves, their loyal Pokémon by their side. Cole had Jack, the somewhat mischievous Poochyena, while Amber had Zuri, the ever skittish Ralts. Grey, as usual, had no Pokémon to keep him company as he stayed out of the conversation.

“So you got in?” Amber asked Cole, too worked up to even touch her lunch. Zuri mirrored her emotions and likewise was unable to eat his rawst berries as he listened with bubbling excitement. “That’s so cool!”

Cole, who didn’t share Amber’s eating disposition, swallowed a mouthful of ham sandwich before continuing. “Yeah, they sent me the badge this morning.” With a self-important flourish, he flashed a card with a shiny gold PLA emblem and his ID photo. “I’m officially a participant of the first ever Pokémon League!”

Starting up the Pokémon League was something all the trainers had been looking forward to for a very long time, but it was only recently that the PLA (Pokémon League of America) was able to get such a big event set up. At that very moment anyone who wanted to be a Pokémon trainer was scrambling to sign up for this once in a lifetime event that was just a week away.

Grey allowed his friend a congratulatory smile but found it hard to work up the energy. He had never really been interested in Pokémon battling, or Pokémon at all for that matter, so having to listen for weeks about the first upcoming Pokémon League was getting tiring. Really, he would much rather have talked about something else.

Amber continued, not noticing her friend’s discomfort. “Your parents are really okay with you taking a year off of school? Mine are still completely against the idea…”

“It counts towards my GPA, so my grades won’t slide,” he explained. “It’s like being a foreign exchange student.”

She pouted just a little and Zuri responded to the sudden mood change in turn. “Lucky! I wish my birthday wasn’t a month away, then I could go with you…”

Cole smiled and tried to comfort her. “Hey, they’ll still be accepting applications for six more months! You can start late and catch up with me in no time.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Amber smiled back, feeling a little better. She looked at Grey, remembering something. “I still don’t get why you don’t want to go, Grey. You turn sixteen on the day it starts, so you could start with Cole. It would be fun if it was the three of us, right?”

Grey shrugged. “I’ve told you a million times, I’m just not into Pokémon battling. You and Cole would be better off without me.”

Cole sighed. “I swear, you’re the only person I know who doesn’t like Pokémon battling. It’s just unnatural, you’re like an old man.”

“Am not,” he replied, getting annoyed. “I’m entitled to my own opinion.”

“It’s unhealthy for a guy your age,” continued Cole. “Come on, where’s your sense of adventure? I bet that by the end of this week I’ll convince you to come with us.”

“Good luck with that,” sighed Grey. “I’m fine studying here on my own and nothing you can say will convince me otherwise.”

“It’s a challenge I’m willing to accept!” grinned his friend, slapping him hard on the back.

Grey winced, but couldn’t help laughing. “I never said I was challenging you, but if by some miracle you get me into the League I’ll buy you lunch for a year.”

“Deal!”

Just then the bell rang and the three went to their next class, Grey’s bad mood temporarily forgotten.


	3. Scene 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which new friends are made, debts are settled, and we all take a moment to admire the speediness of Pokemon health care...

As the school day finally drew to a close, dark clouds began to creep in the clear autumn sky. Grey watched them come in with some anticipation as he walked out the front door. He liked the cloudy weather and didn’t mind the rain very much, but seeing as he forgot to bring a jacket he knew that if it started coming down hard it would be a pain. He decided it would be best to get home as fast as possible.

This meant cutting through a small forested area. A short fence with a gate surrounded the premises with multiple signs advising travelers to keep Pokémon out and close at hand, but Grey ignored these. One of the first things everyone learned as a kid was to stay out of ‘tall grass’: any untamed area where wild Pokémon could jump out. The wild Pokémon usually didn’t bother people without a good reason, but it was a common precaution to keep a trained Pokémon out at all times just in case. Grey didn’t have anything to protect himself, but he usually knew enough to stay out of trouble.

Brown leaves crunched underneath the boy’s feet, crisp with a light coating of frost. As usual, it seemed as though winter wanted to start a little early. It was just as likely the clouds ahead were meant for snow instead of rain. Grey breathed in the crisp air, watching a couple of squirrels chase each other across the treetops. It was a peaceful afternoon and from the look of things he was going to beat the harsh weather home.

A noise made Grey paused midway through his shortcut, the deepest he ever risked to go in the small forest where he could now only barely see or hear the city. The sound was a lonely whimper, though he couldn’t tell what made it. Not wanting to take any chances, the boy tried to continue on, but before he could make a move a bush up ahead began to rustle. Suddenly a small creature tumbled head-over-rump out of the thicket, startling Grey.

Before he was overcome with the urge to run, he caught a glance of the thing. It looked like a small cuddly bear cub, reaching only past Grey’s knee at full height. But unlike a typical bear cub its coat was colored baby-blue for the head and snow-white for the body. It was a pathetic mess, with big watery eyes and globs of snot running freely from its nose. By the looks of it, either it was upset or had a particularly bad cold.

“A Cubchoo?” Grey muttered to himself, surprised. From what he had learned, Cubchoo usually lived in Canada and only ventured south of the boarder in deep winter. It was extremely unusual to see them so far south, especially this early in the year.

As he contemplated this the Cubchoo looked up at him, growing noticeably more upset. The Pokémon was covered in scratches and had a small bump on its head from rolling around. And now with this strange human standing in front of it menacingly the little thing was ready to cry, already tearing up and sniffling snot.

Grey held his empty hands open, trying his best not to look like a threat. It may have been a baby, but it could still do some serious damage if it wanted to. He tried his best soothing voice and started to back up slowly. He knew that most Pokémon could get the gist of human speech and were especially sensitive to tone.

“Easy, I’m just passing through. You have nothing to worry about.”

The Cubchoo continued to watch him carefully, shivering, as though frantically trying to make a decision. When it looked like the boy was about to leave, the small Pokémon panicked and pulled itself up. Stumbling between two and four legs, the Cubchoo made its way to a bewildered Grey.

He stood stock-still and wondered once again if he should make a run for it, but decided against it. Tentatively the Cubchoo sniffed around Grey’s pant legs, leaving large splotches of mucus. When it finished it looked Grey in the eye and whimpered. It was strange. Wild Pokémon weren’t normally so forward.

“I-Is something wrong?” Grey asked. “Are you lost?”

The creature made the same pitiful sound and shook some more. He tried to pull his foot back but the Cubchoo seemed eager to follow.

He sighed. “Well it’s not like I would know how to get you home. You’re on your own.”

Just then a wild roar tore through the calm, startling both human and Pokémon alike. A flock of birds took off and small critters hid in their burrows. When it ended everything became strangely silent.

That made Grey’s decision for him. “Sorry, I’m out!”

The boy turned right around and started walking swiftly towards the nearest exit of the forest. No matter what the little Pokémon’s problem was, it definitely wasn’t worth getting potentially mauled to death over. He got several meters ahead, being careful to make as little noise as possible, when he noticed the Cubchoo predictably following him.

Just when he was going to tell it off the little cub ran right into Grey’s legs, causing him to fall forward flat on his face. He slowly sat up, whispering furiously, “What was that for?”

The Cubchoo was whining even more frantically than before, pulling on Grey’s pant leg. It clearly wanted him to head back towards the noise.

“Well you can forget it!” said Grey, more than a little annoyed at this thing. “You’ll get us both killed.”

Not getting the point, the Cubchoo climbed on top of him and sat on his chest. It may have been small, but the weight was a little much. The poor thing looked down at him with its doleful eyes, trying its best to plead for help. Grey could see that this guy wasn’t going to let him go any time soon.

“Look,” he tried to reason, “whatever that thing is, it would probably kill us both. Is what you want me to do really worth it?”

The cub didn’t understand the more abstract part of what he said, but it did seem to get that Grey was refusing him again and that made the fuzzy thing only whine louder. Its condition was becoming so distressed that a glob of snot dripped right off its nose and began to puddle onto the boy’s chest.

Grey recoiled in disgust, sitting up and letting the Pokémon tumble to the ground. He was getting to his last nerve. How much longer could this go on? Maybe he could agree to go along with it, at least until he could find the chance to sneak off. “Alright, I’ll go, but only to look! And don’t make any noise; this is going to be dangerous for both of us as it is.”

He worried that the Cubchoo couldn’t understand all of that, but at least it knew he was going to help and calmed down. Before he could say any more, it toddled off towards the source of the roar. Grey sighed, unable to believe what he was doing, but stood up, wiped the snot off his shirt, and followed. He went as stealthily as he could, flinching at any crack of a twig or rustle of leaves. It was likely that the beast could jump out at him at any moment.

As all of his attention was focused on his own movements, Grey was only barely able to react in time when something came flying out of the brush, only to burry itself deep into the tree beside him. He jumped, turning around rapidly to see it was a large ice sickle, about the size of his forearm. If he hadn’t moved in time it would have skewered him, and he didn’t want to think about that.

Cautiously, he pushed aside the bushes in front of him and noticed the temperature immediately drop. Before him was an unreal scene. The entire area was covered in a layer of deep frost, the bare flowers and vegetation of autumn completely frozen solid. In the middle of the small clearing were two creatures. One was a large polar bear in appearance, standing on its hind legs rather menacingly with no trouble at all. Ice sickles hung from its chin like a frosty beard, frozen there by the bear’s subzero breath. Grey knew instantly that it was a Beartic, Cubchoo’s dangerous evolution. Fortunately, it was far too interested in its adversary to notice him.

He couldn’t recognize this new Pokémon at all, which was dwarfed in comparison to the beast at only a couple of feet in height. It stood on two spindly legs, arms raised protectively in a boxer’s stance. It was colored blue and black, with fur markings that looked like a mask on its dog-like face. Grey was briefly reminded of Anubis, the Egyptian god of funerals, but seeing how beaten up the little thing was ruined the image of the proud jackal-headed figure from ancient myth. In fact, he could almost physically _feel_ the pain emanating from the little Pokémon.

The dog stumbled, momentarily distracted by their presence when the Beartic made its next move. The larger Pokémon opened its maw and let out another roar, freezing the air in front of it to create a miniature snow storm. Grey took refuge behind one of the trees, grabbing the Cubchoo out of harm’s way. Even the little ice Pokémon shivered uncontrollably at the sudden blast of cold. He peeked back, sure that the mysterious dog-Pokémon couldn’t withstand another hit, but when the icy mist cleared it was still standing, though more shakey than ever.

Just as a momentary calm settled a weak bark could be heard. Grey looked down to see, in horror, that the Cubchoo in his arms was making the noise. He plastered a hand over its muzzle to shut it up, getting his fingers sticky with freezing-cold mucus, but it was too little too late. The Beartic looked in their direction and growled, taking its attention off its opponent. It dropped to all fours lumbered over quickly, sniffing at the shrubbery that helped conceal their presence.

Grey’s heart pounded loudly in his chest as the Cubchoo continued to struggle. It was becoming very obvious to him that it was related to the Beartic, and he feared what would happen if it, no, possibly _she_ , saw him holding her child. The mother bear’s snout poked through the bushes, lips curled to reveal ice-coated fangs as she caught their scent, when a sound caught her attention. The other Pokémon had taken this moment to get an attack in, throwing its puny body at the beast with surprising speed. This had just about no effect, but that was enough to enrage the Beartic once again.

The boy risked a sigh of relief as the resuming battle drifted farther away, until he realized that the Cubchoo was nowhere in sight. He had accidentally let it go when the mother was almost upon them, and now he saw that it was wandering off towards a nearby cave entrance.

“That little idiot…” Grey grumbled, following despite his instinct to run. As he moved stealthily through the trees, he noticed the Cubchoo stop every few feet to wait for him. It clearly wanted to show him something.

By the time they reached the cave the battle was out of sight, but not entirely out of hearing range. Grey wondered what the little Pokémon could possibly want him to do. There was no way he could stop the battle, not without a strong Pokémon on his team. The Cubchoo gestured him inside and Grey immediately shivered. The entire interior of the cave was coated with a thick layer of ice, though without the Beartic around to regulate the temperature it was already beginning to melt. Icicles hung from the ceiling like stalactites (or perhaps they simply developed over pre-existing ones), and strewn all over the floor were signs of wildlife living there.

Using its insulated paw pads the Cubchoo easily scampered across the slicked floor, yipping for Grey to follow again. He tried taking a step forward only to nearly have his feet slip out from under him, so he proceeded as carefully as possible with one hand on the wall. In a corner the Cubchoo was sniffling around in a pile of leaves that may have been a makeshift bed. When Grey finally reached it the cub pulled its face out of the pile triumphantly, leaves sticking all over its nose and obscuring the object it held in its mouth.

With a sigh, Grey brushed off the foliage and held out his hand. The Cubchoo opened its mouth and allowed a cold piece of metal to drop into his hand, clearly very trusting of the boy by this point. He wiped the object on his shirt and then examined it in the sunlight. It was a collar, specifically a metal nametag bound by a chain with a broken clasp. On the front the word **NERO** was engraved in bold, and with his fingers he could feel there was more on the back. He flipped it over, but there were only lines of varying thickness etched into the metal, much like a barcode. What could that possibly mean?

Grey held out the collar to the little bear in a gesture. “So what am I supposed to do with this? It’s not yours, is it?”

The Cubchoo glanced away sheepishly, betraying its guilt. So if it didn’t belong to this Pokémon, then what? Something told Grey there was a little more to this story than he initially thought. He looked the creature over again, noticing as he did before the bump on its head. Maybe it didn’t come from an accident after all.

“You tried to take this from that Pokémon out there, didn’t you,” he concluded, pointing to the direction of the battle in hope that the Cubchoo would understand.

It gave him a little nod, confirming his suspicions. After the Cubchoo stole the collar, the dog Pokémon must have roughed it up a bit only to attract the attention of the cub’s overly-protective mother. Seeing them fight upset Cubchoo causing it to run, possibly in search of help. And now that Grey was here, it expected him to break up the fight.

“But how am I supposed to do that?” he wondered to himself. He raised an eyebrow to the Pokémon. “You don’t expect me to stand up to your beast of a mother, do you?”

The Cubchoo whined predictably at this disappointing news. Clearly it wasn’t going to settle down until the fighting was stopped, and Grey couldn’t entirely blame it. After all, the other Pokémon was getting beaten pretty badly and he felt sorry for it. But why didn’t it just run? The Beartic wasn’t very fast and there were many opportunities to escape. He glanced down at the collar and guessed that it wouldn’t leave without it.

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do.”

The two of them made their way quickly back to the battlefield, which had only become louder and more destructive since they left. Frozen branches had been snapped off and every blade of grass was thoroughly trampled. The dog Pokémon was even worse off than before, barely able to step out of the way of Beartic’s attacks. It wasn’t even trying to retaliate anymore; just looking for a clear path passed its opponent to the ice cave. Again Grey felt a strong empathy for the creature, in an almost unnatural way. It was almost like he was experiencing its pain as his own.

But he didn’t have long to dwell on this phenomenon. The mother Beartic had immediately locked onto their scent and turned to face them. With no time to hide, Grey did the only thing he could think of and picked up the Cubchoo. It squealed and wriggled in his arms, but he did his best to keep it between him and the mother.

“N-Now, I’m not going to do anything to him,” stuttered Grey, desperately hoping she got the message, “but I’m not letting him go until you calm down, okay?”

The Beartic growled, as if offended by the very idea that a human would dare lay hands on her child. She took a step forward, preparing another attack in spite of the Cubchoo’s presence, when the dog Pokémon weakly rammed into her side. Enraged at this distraction, the Beartic swiped an open claw down on the weakened adversary.

Grey dropped the Cubchoo and gasped. It felt like something had stabbed him, making hard to breathe. The pain quickly passed, but the invasive emotional attachment lingered as he stared at the small lifeless body. The Pokémon twitched, regaining consciousness to lock its red eyes with the boy’s. A deep understanding formed between them, and in that moment both of their feelings were made known as the creature fell unconscious again.

A roar broke through his thoughts. The mighty bear took a deep breath, causing ice crystals to form in the air. Time seemed to pass incredibly slowly, and before Grey knew it he found his legs moving forward on their own. He crouched over the injured Pokémon protectively; bracing himself for what he was sure would be a very cold and deadly blast.

The boy stayed very still and the tense moment became a full minute. Realizing he couldn’t hear anything, Grey risked a look up. The Cubchoo was there, standing in the path of destruction defiantly. The mother had stopped her attack midway and was watching her child with a puzzled look on her face. Her cub ran up to her and stood its forepaws on her leg, yipping pleadingly. Through their secret language she seemed to understand, backing off.

The Beartic gave Grey an apologetic nod, as though it would be enough after the damage she had caused. But right then Grey didn’t care about proper reparations. He sat up and took a look at the creature he had saved. It was breathing shallowly and bruised all over. When he touched its coat it shivered slightly from the intense cold. Both of the ursine Pokémon watched with guilty expressions on their faces. Grey fished the collar from his pocket and showed it to the mother.

“This belongs to this Pokémon,” he said. “I think your kid was playing with it, and that made it angry. That’s why it hit him and made him run away.”

At this news the Beartic gave a stern look to her child, making the Cubchoo flinch. Apparently stealing was just as frowned upon in the Pokémon world as it was in the human world. Grey couldn’t help smirking a little at this, despite the circumstances.

“Anyway,” he continued, gingerly picking up the unconscious Pokémon, “I’m going to take this guy to the Pokémon Center to see if they can do anything about it. It probably has an owner, so maybe-!”

He was cut off midsentence as the Beartic got down on all fours and scooped him onto her back. She tilted her head back at him as though to ask ‘where to?’ Nervously, Grey pointed to the nearest exit. “T-That way.”

Without further ado, the Beartic grabbed her child by the scruff of the neck with her icy maw and set off into the woods. Grey huddled into cold white fur, grabbing any handhold he could while also making sure that his charge didn’t slip off. Small wild Pokémon and other woodland critters dove into their burrows at the sight of them, and he could only imagine what a hiker would think if they saw them.

Within a few minutes they had reached the edge of the forest. Grey tugged on his mount in hopes that she would stop, but she kept right on going. Soon they were back in urban life, dodging light poles and pedestrians alike, pausing only to change directions. It made him embarrassed to be drawing so much attention, but at least no one was panicking. After all, Pokémon riding was common enough that they probably thought he was a trainer. He just hoped that she wouldn’t make a scene once they got to the Center.

A red roof came into view and Grey adjusted their course accordingly. It was one of several Pokémon Centers that were established throughout the city, but he had chosen this one because it was the one he trusted the most. When they were close enough to see the bright red PC letters on the door, nurses came out to greet them. Only now did the Beartic slow to a stop, finally letting Grey off her back. She eyed them suspiciously, keeping her cub secure in her frozen teeth.

Nurses in sterile white smocks edged closer, careful not to upset her as they inspected either Pokémon for injuries. It was only then when one of them noticed that the real victim was hanging limply in Grey’s arms. The man asked, “Do you need assistance getting this Pokémon to the emergency ward?”

This question was clearly just a formality, because as he spoke one nurse was preparing a tiny gurney while another was checking the creature for signs of head trauma. Grey was a little taken aback at their efficiency, but he supposed that arriving in such a dramatic fashion would gather this sort of attention.

Just as he was thinking this, a roar broke out from behind him. The Beartic, feeling crowded by all these strange humans prodding at her child, stood to her full height, dropped the Cubchoo into an open paw, and growled until they backed off. She then promptly turned and sauntered off, only pausing to glance back at Grey and the injured Pokémon one last time. Her debt had been paid, and no one was about to keep her or her cub in this place a moment longer.

The nurses were pretty stunned by this behavior, having assumed that the Beartic belonged to Grey, but they didn’t let this keep them from doing their job. Soon enough, the injured Pokémon had been properly strapped to the gurney and was wheeled off to the ER. It all happened so fast that Grey really didn’t have time to process what had just transpired. Not an hour ago his biggest worry was getting home. Going out of his way for a Pokémon like that, even risking his life…while he didn’t regret how things turned out, it definitely wasn’t something he would have normally done.

Small white flakes started drifting down from the sky, signaling the first snowfall of the year, but by now Grey was sick of the cold. The boy contemplated following the nurses inside when suddenly he saw a familiar figure in the doorway. It was a somewhat short woman with locks of wavy brown hair and hazel eyes, wearing a scrub the dignified her as the head nurse. Her eyes met Grey’s and her expression grew from mildly puzzled to outright confusion.

“Grey?”

He averted the woman’s gaze sheepishly and muttered, “Hey…mom.”


End file.
